easy as pie (loveless cafe's sweet potato pie)

Last night I happened upon a recipe for sweet potato pie from my new cookbook, Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe, and couldn't resist whipping up this recipe when I got home today.

Recipe for The Loveless Cafe's Tennessee Sweet Potato Pie
(also written below).

A quick stop at the store for a bag of dark brown sugar, and I was all set to go. Or so I thought. I soon remembered that the sweet potatoes would need at least 45-60 minutes to cook, so I stuck them in the oven at 400 degrees and then settled in for some couch time while I anxiously waited for the sweet aroma to fill the room.

An hour later, I was impatiently scooping out and mashing the bright orange flesh from the sweet potatoes, ignoring the warning from Loveless (and general common sense) about waiting for them to cool. What's a few scorched fingertips when there's sweet potato pie to be had?

I plugged in my trusty Cuisinart electric hand mixer and began whisking in the butter (the Kitchenaid mixer seemed unnecessary for this recipe). It turns out that using hot potatoes means you don't have to melt the butter ahead of time! Genius. Then went in the brown sugar, honey (raw star thistle honey from Cascade Natural Honey Co., to be exact), cinnamon, and nutmeg. My store-bought pie shell was also partially baking at this point, so my kitchen was smelling quite heavenly.

Adding the honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

After whisking in the eggs and heavy cream, the filling was done (note: the potatoes should no longer be hot, otherwise the eggs will start to cook).

Mixing in the heavy cream. (I realize that I'm not using the whisk
attachment.. I"m actually not sure that I've ever used it with this mixer.)

I poured the sweet potato filling into the partially baked crust, set the timer, and went back to the living room for more couch time.

Waiting. But check out the shoes! Charcoal grey
cashmere ballet slippers from Restoration Hardware.

Forty-eight minutes later, and the pie was done!

Finished pie in the oven.

I let the pie cool, made some freshly whipped cream, and then sat down to enjoy a slice. YUM.

Slice of sweet potato pie with freshly whipped cream.

Update: For those of you who haven't had sweet potato pie... well, you should walk run over to my house right now and try it before it's gone (I admittedly had a slice for breakfast, and I even debated whether I should pack another for lunch!). If you happen to live far away (say, Indiana) and can't make it over tonight, then I guess you'll have to make one for yourself. It's akin to pumpkin pie (except that it's made from and tastes like sweet potatoes, obviously), and has a warm molasses flavor resulting from the dark brown sugar. It can be as creamy and smooth as you want depending on how well you mash/blend the sweet potatoes -- Loveless recommends using a food mill, ricer, or even a food processor.


Recipe for The Loveless Cafe's Tennessee Sweet Potato Pie

2 to 3 medium-large sweet potatoes, about 1 1/2 pounds
9-inch pie shell, partially baked
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons sorghum or wildflower honey
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
Whipped cream or sorghum (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes in an ovenproof dish and bake for 45 minutes, until very soft. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and mash the flesh well so there are no lumps. Measure out 2 cups and let stand until tepid. (I clearly disregarded everything in Step 1.)

2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Set the pie shell on a sturdy baking sheet. (The recipe expects that your pie shell is already partially baked. Instead, I baked mine while mixing the pie filling.)

3. In a large bowl, whisk the sweet potatoes and melted butter together. Gradually whisk in the brown sugar. Add the sorghum (or honey), cinnamon, and nutmeg; mix well. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Blend in the cream. Scrape the sweet potato filling into the pie shell. (I followed this step pretty well.)

4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the edges are puffed and the center is almost firm but still flat. Let cool completely before serving. Garnish with whipped cream or a drizzle of sorghum, if desired. (What else would you do with the extra heavy cream other than make whipped cream? I don't particularly care for the taste or texture of whipped cream, but the pie looks pretty boring without it..)